Boxing Champion To Run For Ukrainian Parliament

Klitschko often appeared on stage with Viktor Yushchenko in last year's Orange Revolution (RFE/RL)
10 December 2005 -- Newly retired heavyweight boxing champion Vitaliy Klitschko announced today he will run in Ukraine's March parliamentary polls.

Klitschko is to lead the party list of a newly formed bloc. It includes a party headed by the country's finance minister and the Pora youth movement, which helped organize last year's Orange Revolution mass protests.

Klitschko also today refused to rule out a bid for Kyiv's mayoral post.

The 34-year-old is hugely popular in Ukraine and was a prominent supporter of the Orange Revolution, which propelled Viktor Yushchenko to the presidency. Yushchenko's political party also tried to persuade Klitschko to join its party ranks.

(AP)

The Orange Revolution

An archive of RFE/RL's reporting and analysis on Ukraine's Orange Revolution.

REVOLUTION IN THE AIR: Listen to an audio portrait of the Orange Revolution from RFE/RL's archives.Real AudioWindows Media